1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel device for packaging and dispensing fluid products, and more particularly a device for packaging and dispensing fluid, liquid or pasty products, of the type comprising at least two flexible bags placed in the same rigid container and associated with at least two pumps, for separately storing, satisfactorily efficiently, at least two fluid products, protected from the air, and for dispensing them separately.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the fluid-product-distribution field, multi-compartment dispensers that make it possible to store several products separately, to prevent them reacting with one another for example, so that they are not mixed until they are used, are known. Thus, application WO 99/64319 describes a simple device for dispensing two fluids simultaneously by means of a double pump, more particularly for toothpastes or gels. This device has an upper part mounted telescopically on a lower part, forming a pump with two pistons that move in parallel in two cylinders that are integral with the lower part. Each time the upper part forming a push-button is pressed, variable amounts of products are expelled. Such a device is therefore not suitable when it is necessary to dispense predetermined, constant amounts of products.
Also known are devices for separately dispensing two or more fluid products, as selected by the user. For example, French patent application 01/16246, in the name of the applicant, describes a device of the pocket-flask type comprising two bags placed in parallel in the same flask, associated with two extraction pumps and one or two push-buttons for actuating the pumps. When the device comprises only a single push-button, this push-button acts simultaneously on the two pumps and the products exiting from each of the two bags are mixed in the dispensing head. In a variant, this device comprises two independent push-buttons, each acting on one pump such that the user is able to choose to actuate only one of the two push-buttons in order to dispense the fluid of his/her choice. However, the two push-buttons are placed alongside one another and the user may confuse them and erroneously actuate one instead of the other or accidentally press the second push-button while actuating the first one if his/her finger is not suitably placed on the first push-button.
In point of fact, it is often desirable to be able to offer the user a device containing at least two products that are packaged separately but can be dispensed independently of one another with minimal risk of confusion.
The applicant observed that this objective could be achieved by appropriately associating certain extraction pumps for fluid products associated with bags and with a rigid container of the pocket-flask type.
Fluid-packaging and -dispensing devices of this type are well known. They generally comprise a container with a rigid shell in which is placed a flexible bag that contracts as the product is extracted from it. The product may be expelled from the bag using an airless pump, or by being pressurized by a propellant gas acting on the wall of the bag in the flask. In the case of expulsion of product outside the bag using an airless pump, a vent is provided, generally in the base or neck of the flask, to allow external air to enter the space between the flask and the bag each time the pump is actuated, thus allowing the bag to contract while maintaining sufficient pressure on its walls. An illustrative embodiment using this technique is described in patent FR 2.723.356, which relates to a device comprising a bag made from flexible plastic, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, in a rigid container whose neck has an air inlet.